Ideally any funding model should have the following features:
- be open and objective;
- be as simple as possible;
- provide at least three years of certainty for institutions;
- enable universities to be responsive to market needs;
- contain relevant indexation arrangements;
- have contestable elements for both teaching and research; and
- be based as far as possible on performance.
In any practical model there may, however, need to be trade-offs
amongst these features.
Public Funding
Commonwealth funded operating grant for teaching, research
and research training in universities:
It is in the interests of national development, access and equity,
that the bulk of funding for the teaching, research and research
training undertaken by public universities should continue to
be provided by the Commonwealth through the operating grant. Moreover,
in order to provide universities with greater flexibility, the
Government should seek to assure that as many items as possible
should be rolled into the base operating grant mechanism. About
80% of the operating grant is currently tied up in salaries. As
the Government no longer provides universities with supplementation
for salary increases, universities need to find the additional
funding from existing resources. This further inhibits universities'
ability to invest in non-salary developments.
The allocation of operating grant funding adhering to the rolling
triennial principle is essential to provide certainty for universities
and underpin strategic university planning processes and management.
There is very little discretionary funding for universities to
undertake initiatives in areas such as quality assurance and improvement.
Some discretionary grant funding would, however, enable the Government
to target areas for special funding to ensure equity considerations
are given proper attention. Universities would continue to be
expected to be accountable to the public for funding provided
by the Government. Streamlined planning and accountability information
would continue to form part of the Educational Profiles discussions
which take place between the Commonwealth and universities.
- Performance-based funding for research
The research component (Research Quantum) of the operating grant
should continue to be allocated on the basis of performance, using
a streamlined Composite Index comprising a combination of input
and output indicators.
- Performance-based funding for teaching
It has been highlighted under B2 that, at the institutional level,
universities are already seeking to reward and encourage good
teaching practice amongst their academic staff. It is also argued
in that section that while good progress is being made, it is
felt that additional incentive funding provided through an established
national mechanism such as the Committee for University Teaching
and Staff Development would help the sector encourage and foster
innovation in teaching and learning.
At the system level, the recent Higher Education Council (HEC)
report on performance-based funding provides some warnings about
the introduction of system wide performance-based funding for
teaching in Australia. Other countries in the OECD are moving
cautiously in this regard, with Sweden, Denmark, and Chile offering
various forms of limited performance-based funding. Much work
needs to be undertaken in the development of simple, valid, reliable
indicators prior to any attempt to introduce this method of funding
to even a small proportion of the operating grant. The AVCC is
co-sponsoring a seminar with the HEC later this year on this issue.
In the absence of the availability of suitable indicators which
could be used system wide, the AVCC argues that much can be learnt
from the experience gained at the individual university level.
This collective experience and wisdom could prove extremely valuable
in the development of system wide indicators for use in any funding
model which includes performance-based teaching in later years.
- Funding through student demand
A degree of responsiveness to demand on the teaching element of
the operating grant has already been introduced into the funding
of higher education through the changes announced in the Federal
Budget in 1996.
From 1998, the mix of undergraduate students will be within quota
HECS-liable Australian students, within quota HECS-exempt Australian
students (including equity and merit based HECS-exemption scholarships),
over quota HECS-liable Australian students, out of quota fee-paying
Australian students and fee-paying international students.
Moving to increase the degree of responsiveness to demand could
be achieved by the introduction of education awards or scholarships
whereby institutions are funded via the students rather than directly
by the Government. Some Vice-Chancellors believe that the introduction
of a small number of such awards/scholarships could encourage
explicit diversification among institutions and a differentiation
of their goals. Those who support the testing of such a model
believe that some awards could be allocated purely on the basis
of merit (to enable highly qualified students a greater range
of choice) and some on the basis of regional needs (to provide
a particular incentive for students to study in the regional universities).
Others consider such a scheme would evoke instability in the system
which, given the major public investment in university infrastructure,
would be counter to national objectives. It is argued that it
would be better to pursue other options to improve university
responsiveness to demand.
Private funding
While the bulk of the core funding for public universities should
be provided by the Government, there is recognition that increasing
funding amounts should be provided from private sources to maintain
and enhance the quality of university activities of teaching,
research, research training and community development. The following
paragraphs outline some of the current and possible mechanisms
for increasing private funding.
- User pays - Australian Students
From 1989, Australian students have contributed to their education
through HECS by choosing between a discounted up-front payment
or an additional charge to their annual tax bill once their earnings
reach a minimum threshold. The AVCC, as well as the community
at large, has supported HECS as a means through which beneficiaries
of higher education make a contribution towards the cost of their
higher education.
Universities have also been able to offer fee-paying postgraduate
places in selected courses since 1988/89.
From 1998, universities may offer places to Australian undergraduate
students for a fee payable directly to the institution, provided
that the institution has filled its target number of places for
Commonwealth funded undergraduate student load. The number of
fee-paying Australian undergraduate students will be limited to
25% of the total enrolment of Australian undergraduates in any
course.
The advantage of this change is that it provides the potential
for universities to generate additional revenue without reducing
opportunities for financially disadvantaged students. The ability
to generate additional revenue is particularly critical in view
of the fact that the reduction to operating grants announced in
the 1996 Federal Budget, has occurred at a time when there are
compelling imperatives to award salary increases and to radically
overhaul infrastructure for both teaching and research, particularly
in information technology and telecommunications. The disadvantages
of the change to allow fee-paying arrangements for undergraduate
students include the inherent complexity of the arrangements,
concerns about access and equity, and the differential effects
it will have on different universities. The AVCC argues that the
changes introduced in the 1996 Federal Budget must be given time
to settle and their impact reviewed, prior to any further changes
to fee-paying arrangements being made.
The AVCC does not support the extension of HECS to students attending
private universities in the same way that it does not support
the provision of HECS to fee-paying undergraduate students in
public universities. Students who are unable to obtain a Government-funded
place at a public university and choose to accept a fee-paying
place at either a public or private university do so in full knowledge
of the financial commitment which they and their families are
taking on.
- User pays - Overseas Students
In recent years, a growing source of income for universities has
been the export of education services. Since Australian universities
started admitting full-fee paying international students in the
late 1980s, the number of overseas students attending Australian
universities has increased steadily, to reach 52,899 in 1996.
Australia benefits in many ways from the participation of international
students in the education system. Benefits occur at the personal,
institutional and national levels. Benefits include contribution
to the teaching and research experience of Australian students,
future trade opportunities and tourism.
The tuition fee income derived by universities from international
activities is estimated to have exceeded $600m in 1996. Total
income received in 1996 (tuition, accommodation, food expenses)
from overseas students across all education sectors was $2.6b.
Internationalisation also provides a wide range of non-pecuniary
benefits to universities and pecuniary and non-pecuniary benefits
to the community more generally. These benefits are under threat
if Australian investment in higher education is reduced and quality
of teaching and research falls. Overseas, and possibly Australian,
students will vote with their feet and choose to study in other
countries.
- User pays - Other sources
As highlighted under C3, universities obtain revenue, to
varying degrees, from a range of external sources.
Analogous to the current tax incentive to invest in research,
the Government is asked to consider the offering tax deductions
for industry investment in university teaching and training. Such
investment could include scholarships, cadetships, sponsoring
programs or chairs, and providing equipment for teaching. Many
of the world's larger multi-national companies (such as McDonald's,
Microsoft and Motorola) have established their own "in house"
teaching and training programs to ensure their employees are equipped
with the necessary skills and knowledge to add-value to the industry.
While multi-national companies have the resources to buy in their
expertise and to train their employees "in house", the
majority of Australian small to medium size companies do not.
Industry demand for specialised "just in time" courses
is likely to increase and tax deductibility would be of mutual
benefit to universities and industry.
Recommendation 18:
The AVCC recommends:
(i) the continuance of core funding for universities via the
Commonwealth operating grant, which should be as inclusive as
possible to give universities maximum flexibility to manage their
resources;
(ii) adherence to the rolling triennial principle in the provision
of the operating grant to provide certainty for universities and
underpin strategic university planning processes and management;
(iii) the continuance of performance-based funding for the
research component of the operating grant (Research Quantum);
and
(iv) that the Commonwealth offer a tax deduction for industry
investment in university teaching and training analogous to the
current tax incentive to invest in research.
APPENDIX
THE CONTEXT
1. Where the sector has come from and where it is now
The past decade has seen change of unparalleled magnitude in Australian
higher education. Where once a university education was the prerogative
of a privileged few, over 630,000 students attended Australian
universities in 1996, almost double the number attending 10 years
ago and about 18 times the number of forty years ago. The participation
rate has gone from 40 per 1000 head of the 17-64 age group in
1988 to 54.2 in 1996. Secondary school retention rates to year
12 have increased from 57.6% in 1988 to 71.3% in 1995.
There has been a 45% increase in total FTE staff in universities
over the decade from 56,700 FTE in 1985 to 82,000 in 1995. In
1995 there were 78,544 university staff (excluding casuals), about
46% of whom were involved in teaching and or research functions.
Nearly 60% of academic staff were on tenure with 80% of senior
lecturer and above on tenure.
DEETYA Selected Higher Education Student Statistics, 1996
Higher Education Participation Rates, 1994
Schools Australia ABS Catalogue No 4221.0, many years
The binary system comprising 46 colleges of advanced education
and 19 universities was abolished in 1989 and replaced by the
Unified National System of Higher Education (UNS) resulting in
36 public universities in the UNS, two private universities and
four Commonwealth funded colleges.
Additional sources of funding were needed for the substantial
growth envisaged for the higher education system. In 1989, the
Government introduced the Higher Education Contribution Scheme
(HECS) whereby students could partially pay for their education
by choosing between a discounted up-front payment or an additional
charge to their annual tax bill once their earnings reached a
particular threshold. Fees for overseas students had already been
introduced in the early 1980s. Application of the user-pays principle
was extended with the introduction in 1988/89 of fees for postgraduate
non-research courses. The ability for universities to charge fees
for Australian undergraduates up to 25% of student load, will
be introduced from 1998.
There has been a shift in reliance on Government funding by universities
which has seen the generation of increasing amounts of their revenue
from external sources. The Government provided about 90% of university
funding in 1983 and about 57.2% of university funding in 1995
although in some universities this is now as low as 45%. The amount
of Commonwealth funding per equivalent full-time student unit
has dropped by 8.2% since 1983.
Summary of 1995 university operating revenue for 40 higher
education institutions (before abnormal items) by source:
| Commonwealth Government Grants | 57.2% |
| HECS | 12.0% |
| Fees and Charges | 11.7% |
| Investment Income | 4.0% |
| State Government | 1.4% |
| Donations and Bequests | 1.1% |
| Other Sources | 12.6% |
| Total 100% | ($7,535,721m) |
DEETYA Selected Higher Education Finance Statistics
Priority has also been given to the concept of quality and diversity.
System-wide assessments of the quality of teaching, research and
community service were introduced in 1993 following concerns that
the move towards mass education had diminished the quality of
offerings in universities. System-wide assessments were accompanied
by additional funding to maintain and enhance quality outcomes
in universities. In 1997, the Minister announced that future quality
processes would involve universities developing their own quality
improvement plans as part of their overall strategic planning
processes.
Universities are at the forefront with regards to embracing new
technology to enhance their teaching, learning and research activities.
The Australian Academic Research Network (AARNet) was originally
established by the AVCC to link all the nations universities and
it remains the country's biggest Internet network. The flow of
electronic data around the higher education and scientific sectors
is tripling each year.
New information technology and telecommunications has allowed
universities to provide for a wide range of modes of learning
for students. Only 58% of students were studying full-time in
1996 with 28% studying part-time and 13.3% studying externally.
Distance education has provided an alternative to full-time, on-campus
study for about 80 years. The early 1990s saw a rationalisation
of distance education providers and the establishment of a smaller
number of Distance Education Centres. Distance education uses
high quality printed materials and kits of equipment for experiments
and practical learning.
Open Learning Australia (OLA) was established in 1993 to enable
more students to study in the work place or from home, to provide
education more cheaply and to increase access. Students are sent
printed materials and are not required to attend on campus. Some
units and modules are supported by television and radio which
is delivered via the ABC TV or Radio National. Thirty-eight universities
and TAFE colleges currently offer student courses through OLA.
There has been strong growth in the internationalisation of higher
education particularly through the delivery of education to overseas
students either within Australia or off-shore. In 1983, there
were 10,000 privately funded overseas students studying in Australian
universities and colleges of advanced education, and, by 1995,
there were 57,052 studying in universities. The tuition fee income
derived by universities from international activities is estimated
to have exceeded $600m in 1996.
Competition has increased amongst Australian universities for
not only national and international students but also other forms
of revenue including funds for research. From 1995, the portion
of the operating grant which is devoted to research (Research
Quantum) was allocated on the basis of a comprehensive range of
input and output indicators. The increasing diversity of research
opportunities and strengths across the higher education system
has enabled the sector to better serve regional, national and
international needs.
Australian research in the last decade has seen other significant
developments. There have been changes not only in the quantity
and quality of research being undertaken, but also a shift in
the balance of research between traditional disciplines and newer
often interdisciplinary fields of research. Links with the government
and private sector have strengthened through increased institutional
capacity for consulting, contract research and other service activities.
The sector has responded positively to Government calls for increasing
levels of relevance, priority setting, competitiveness of funding
for research, selectivity and concentration, and accountability.
Collaboration has also increased as universities have sought to
rationalise their less popular course offerings and weak areas
of teaching and research activity and build on their strengths.
Productive relationships have formed between universities, particularly
within States, with a sharing of courses, equipment and facilities.
Competition between the education and training sectors increased
during the 1990s with each marketing its particular strengths
and qualities in order to attract an increasingly discerning student
market. More collaboration between universities and TAFE has been
evident, however, with several universities embracing TAFE components
within their structures to improve the choice and quality of educational
opportunities for students.
There have been changes in the industrial relations environment.
The Work Place Relations Act 1996 came into force in early 1997.
With the new budgetary, policy and legislative environment universities
are to handle their own wage fixing through enterprise bargaining
but without as much capacity as private sector organisations to
increase output of prices in response.
In 1996, the Government also signalled less certainty about the
provision of Commonwealth funding for future growth, through the
introduction of the new category of fee paying Australian undergraduate
students.
In terms of outcomes, the number and share of the labour force
occupied by university graduates is increasing. University graduates
with Bachelor degrees represented 9.3% of the Australian labour
force in 1987 and by 1996 this figure had increased to 17%. Employment
outcomes represent an important measure of the public investment
in higher education. The GCCA advises that university graduates
continue to find employment quickly, with 80.6% of bachelor degree
graduates (available for full-time employment) finding full-time
employment within four months of completing their studies in December
1995. This outcome improves over time, with ABS statistics showing
that the unemployment rate for all graduates in the community
is well below that for non-graduates. The May 1995 ABS figures
indicated that only 3.9% of bachelor degree graduates were unemployed
compared with 8.5% for the combined population aged 15-64. Employment
rates for those obtaining higher qualifications, are for most
disciplines, substantially higher even than for those with first
degrees.
Early 1997 finds universities working their way through the substantial
changes to higher education announced in the 1996 Federal Budget
and determining the best way to maximise opportunities and minimise
costs.
2. How do we compare internationally?
The best comparable international data is on inputs and throughputs,
that is on how much is spent on each level of education and who
passes through it. The lack of data on key international indicators
for educational outcomes makes international comparisons difficult.
Notwithstanding this caveat, there are some general trends worth
noting. Looked at more broadly, there is a general trend in OECD
countries to develop education systems to meet new social and
economic challenges. Systems are being adapted to bring advanced
learning to the whole population rather than an elite. The general
trend has been for expansion to make post compulsory education,
in particular, accessible to as many people as possible. The other
significant trend is to make learning a life-long activity rather
than concentrated around the years of initial education.
Percentage of GDP expended on education and in particular
higher education
The OECD report Education at a Glance, 1996 comments that
the level of resources provided to education (primary, secondary
and tertiary) has stagnated over the past 20 years. Across OECD
countries an average of 5.8% of GDP was spent on education from
public sources both in 1975 and 1993. Australia moved from 6.2%
of GDP expended on education in 1975 to 5.6% of GDP in 1993. OECD
countries which demonstrate higher levels of public expenditure
on education as a percentage of GDP in 1993 included Canada, New
Zealand, Denmark, Finland, France, Sweden, Czech Republic, Norway,
and Switzerland.
While at the tertiary level, OECD countries as a whole devote
1.6% of GDP on tertiary education, Canada and the United States
spend significantly larger fractions of their GDP on tertiary
education (2.4% or more). At the other end of the scale, Iceland,
Italy, Spain, Turkey, Portugal, and the UK devote less than 1
per cent of their GDP funding of tertiary institutions (OECD
Education at a Glance).
Commonwealth outlays on higher education in Australia as a percentage
of GDP were 1.15% in 1983-84 and 1.11% in 1994-95 (Government
Outlays on Final Consumption Expenditure for Higher Education
as of Percentage of GDP were 1.06% in 1983-84 and decreased to
0.92% by 1994-95).
Participation
In terms of participation, 16% of 18-21 year olds, 12% of 22-25
year olds and 5% of 26-29 year olds participate on average across
OECD countries in university level programs. The figures for Australia
are 20.5 %, 8.4% and 4.7% respectively. Thus we have an above
average number of students in the 18-21 year bracket participating
in higher education but below average in the other two categories.
Data are not available for over 29 year old students.
OECD Education Indicators at a Glance 1996
Research
Australia compares favourably with similar OECD countries in terms
of the gross expenditure on R&D which is performed by the
higher education sector but less favourably in terms of expenditure
on R&D which is performed by the business sector.
OECD EA5 (STIU data bases) Nov, 1996
OECD, EA5 (STIU data bases), Nov 1996
Research Outputs
From 1981 to 1994, the world's output of scientific papers increased
by 3.7% per year. This rate corresponds to a doubling in the total
publication output every nineteen years. The greatest growth rates
(>10% per year) were exhibited by countries in Australia's
region. The "scientifically emerging" countries included
Hong Kong, China, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Such increases
in outputs from newer players have meant many scientifically developed
Western countries have seen their share of the world's papers
decrease from 1981 to 1994. For example, the US's share of world
papers decreased by 1.0% per year, the UK's share decreased by
0.9% and Germany's by 0.4% in the period 1981-1994 (The scientific
wealth of nations, Science Vol 275).
Table 1 shows the world top 15 countries ranked by the contribution
of their scientists to the world's total number of publications
in science, medicine and engineering from 1981 to 1994. These
countries accounted for 81.3% of the world's papers. The relative
citation impact (RCI) gives some measure of the quality of the
average paper.
The top five countries by publication shares, which are the 5
largest economies invest proportionately more in R&D that
do most other countries. The smaller countries with high ranking
RCI (Switzerland and Sweden) are relatively high investors in
R&D. Australia is ranked number eight.
Table 1
| Share of papers | Share of citations | RCI (rank) | GDP spent on R&D | |
| United States | 34.69% | 49.0% | 1.42 (1) | 2.5% |
| United Kingdom | 0.0 | 9.1 | 1.14. (6) | 2.2 |
| Japan | 7.3 | 5.7 | 0.78 (18) | 2.9 |
| Germany | 7.0 | 6.0 | 0.86 (16) | 2.3 |
| France | 5.2 | 4.5 | 0.87 (14) | 2.4 |
| Canada | 4.5 | 4.5 | 1.00 (7) | 1.6 |
| Italy | 2.7 | 2.1 | 0.75 (18) | 1.2 |
| India | 2.4 | 0.7 | 0.27 (66) | 0.7 |
| Australia | 2.1 | 2.1 | 0.97 (8) | 1.6 |
| Netherlands | 2.0 | 2.2 | 1.10 (6) | 1.9 |
| Sweden | 1.7 | 2.1 | 1.24 (3) | 3.3 |
| Switzerland | 1.4 | 1.9 | 1.37 (2) | 2.7 |
| P.R. China | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.27 (65) | 0.5 |
| Denmark | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.18 (4) | 1.8 |
| Finland | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.9 (12) | 2.4 |
Science Volume 275, Feb 1997
The above analysis can be broken down by field. Bibliometric analysis
can also uncover patterns of relative investment or relative advantage
of a country in a particular subject compared with the world average.
Table 2 shows the "relative comparative advantage" (RCA)
in a specified field as a fraction of all that country's citations
(or papers) that are in that particular field, relative to the
fraction of the world's citations that are in that field. Thus,
if the advantage is well above 1, a comparative advantage is revealed
and vice-versa. Australia, for example has prominence in research
based on natural resources. Canada, New Zealand and South Africa
are similar. Smaller European countries (Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland)
have prominence in biomedical research, The Asian economies have
prominence in research related to certain industries (such as
computing, engineering, chemistry and materials). Other countries
show no particular areas of specialisation.
Table 2
| Top five countries | Top five countries | |||
| Field | RCA | RCI | By total citations | By RCI |
| Agriculture | 1.05 | 1.56 | US,JP,UK,CA,GE | SE,UK,DE,CA,NE |
| Astrophysics | 1.06 | 1.13 | US,UK,GE,FR,CA | US,SW,NE,CH,UK |
| Biol. & biochem | . 0.96 | 1.05 | US,UK,JP,GE,CA | US,SW,SE,UK,GE |
| Chemistry | 0.87 | 1.22 | US,JP,GD,UK,FR | US,SW,IS,NE,SE |
| Clinical medicine | 1.22 | 1.10 | US,UK,CA,GE,FR | US,CA,UK,SE,DE |
| Computer sci. | 0.85 | 0.69 | US,UK,CA,GE,FR | IS,US,SW,CA,DE |
| Ecol. & environ | . 0.79 | 1.04 | US,CA,UK,AU,GE | SF,NO,US,SW,AU |
| Engineering | 0.82 | 0.98 | US,UK,JP,GE,CA | DE,SE,US,SW,AU |
| Geosciences | 1.05 | 1.13 | US,UK,CA,FR,AU | US,AU,UK,SW,FR |
| Immunology | 0.96 | 0.96 | US,UK,FR,JP,GE | SW,US,BE,UK,SE |
| Molecular sci | . 0.00 | 1.13 | US,JP,GE,UK,FR | US,DE,NE,IS,SW |
| Mathematics | 0.87 | 1.26 | US,UK,FR,GE,CA | DE,NO,UK,US,NE |
| Microbiology | 1.09 | 1.02 | US,UK,GE,JP,FR | US,SW,UK,NO,IS |
| Molec. biol. & genetics | 1.03 | 1.05 | US,UK,GE,FR,JP | SW,US,GE,UK,IS |
| Multidisciplinary | 1.07 | 1.44 | US,UK,USSR,FR,CE | US,SW,DE,SE,CA |
| Neuroscience | 1.12 | 1.13 | US,UK,CA,GE,FR | SE,US,SW,UK,CE |
| Pharmacology | 1.27 | 1.37 | US,UK,JP,GE,FR | SW,NZ,UK,US,SE |
| Physics | 0.67 | 1.00 | US,GE,JP,FR,UK | SW,DE,US,NE,IS |
| Plant & animal science | 1.18 | 1.39 | US,UK,CA,CE,AU | UK,SE,DE,US,AU |
| Psychology | 0.99 | 1.11 | US,UK,CA,AU,GE | US,SE,DE,UK,CA |
Science Volume 275, Feb 1997
Table 3 shows publications relative to population size. The top
12 countries are listed first for each index. Rankings for the
other countries are in brackets. Australia ranks twelfth in the
number of papers per person.
Table 3
| Country | Paps. per | Country | Cite.per |
| person | person | ||
| Switzerland | 107 | Switzerland | 170 |
| Israel | 152 | Sweden | 125 |
| Sweden | 147 | Israel | 105 |
| Denmark | 127 | Denmark | 103 |
| Canada | 127 | U.S | 100 |
| Netherlands | 109 | Netherlands | 90 |
| Finland | 107 | Canada | 95 |
| U.K | . 104 | U.K. | 88 |
| U.S. | 100 | Finland | 86 |
| New Zealand | 99 | Iceland | 76 |
| Norway | 96 | Norway | 63 |
| Australia | 93 | Australia | 61 |
| France (16) | 72 | France(15) | 51 |
| Germany (17) | 67 | Germany(16) | 49 |
| Japan (10) | 19 | Japan (19) | 31 |
| Italy (21) | 41 | Italy (20) | 28 |
Science Volume 275, Feb 1997
The Bureau of Industry Economics (BIE) summarises in its report
Science system, International Benchmarking Australia's
scientific publications and citations over time. It comments that
Australian science produces around 2 per cent of science papers
in the world. We are ranked tenth in the world in our absolute
contribution to scientific papers. This is high for a small country
and dwarfs the contribution made by many other countries (like
Switzerland and China). Since 1988 Australian scientists have
increased their penetration of leading world journals. Australian
papers are widely cited as well. Australian scientific papers
have the third highest citation rate among APEC countries, behind
the US and Canada. Australia has broad scientific capabilities
as measured by the shares of papers across 20 scientific fields.
But while the citation rate for Australian papers continues to
rise, the rate of increase has been higher for other countries,
so that Australia's relative citation impact has declined. This
has been particularly evident since the late 1980s and has aroused
concern mainly because so many fields in Australia have exhibited
this trend. The BIE believes we, as a nation, need to know why
citation rates have fallen so rapidly for some fields (such as
immunology and chemistry) and to know with greater certainty the
source of the general decline. It suggests that the decline in
visibility and/or quality of some fields should be monitored.
This view is supported by Butler and Bourke in Performance Indicators
Project Monograph Series No.1, 199 A Crisis for Australian
Science:
"We believe that there is a crisis of visibility and performance
level, though not necessarily of productivity, in Australian Science,
that this crisis apparently derives from a complex matrix of causes,
especially operating in the higher education system and that these
difficulties should be made explicit as an important matter of
public policy".